Pollution cuts: Massachusetts way ahead on clean energy

The announcement Monday that the US Environmental Protection Agency would require states to cut carbon emissions from existing power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 was cheered by Bay State environmentalists and Gov Deval Patrick's administration.

The announcement Monday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would require states to cut carbon emissions from existing power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 was cheered by Bay State environmentalists and Gov. Deval Patrick's administration.

But the impact on Massachusetts, which has been a leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency, will likely be driven by what other states must do if the regulations are carried out.

"What the EPA rule does is give states like ours even more of a big tail wind," Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner David Cash said.

Massachusetts, which is part of a regional emissions cap-and-trade program and has passed a series of laws to address climate change and decrease the use of fossil fuels, is already 40 percent below its 1990 greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector, Cash said.

And by 2020 the state expects to be at 50 percent of 1990 levels, he said, adding that the state already has almost reached an interim goal in the new rule.

A national program to reduce emissions will likely drive more states into cap-and-trade markets like the one Massachusetts participates in, helping to reduce costs for everybody, Cash said. In addition, more competition for clean energy and the technologies that drive it will further support innovations Massachusetts companies are pursuing, he said.

"The governor has worked really hard to grow the clean-energy economy all across the board," Cash said.

Cash echoed EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy's dismissal earlier in the day of the argument that reducing carbon emissions would hurt the economy.

"Our gross state product has increased by 70 percent," Cash said about the rise in the state's economic output since 1990.

Modeling for the regional cap-and-trade program initially predicted a 1 to 2 percent increase in electricity prices, but prices have actually dropped by 8 percent, Cash said.

And while declines in electricity prices in the U.S. have been tied to natural gas prices, the Patrick administration has been bullish on alternatives to fossil fuel, including wind energy and a push to increase the capacity to deliver hydroelectric power to the state.

Among the greatest successes Patrick cites is a rapid increase in solar energy across Massachusetts from almost zero in 2002 to 518 megawatts currently. The administration has set a goal of 1,600 megawatts of solar energy installed in the state by 2020.

On Cape Cod, solar projects have sprouted on rooftops and capped landfills, including through a cooperative of towns, counties and other agencies.

"We do also foresee this policy change for America helping to level the playing field," Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative special projects coordinator Liz Argo said about the EPA rule.

The cooperative was formed in 2007 to pursue renewable energy projects in communities on the Cape and Martha's Vineyard. It currently has about 29 megawatts of solar energy online or in development.

The EPA's announcement will also push Midwestern states to reduce emissions that end up on the Cape and Islands, Argo said. In addition, the new requirements legitimize decisions by the Cape Light Compact to provide financial support for the cooperative, Argo said.

The compact, which buys power in bulk for electric customers on the Cape and Vineyard, provides energy efficiency programs for local businesses and residents, and advocates for ratepayers, will have supplied $3.7 million to the cooperative by the end of fiscal 2015.

Critics have argued for more transparency in how the two agencies interact and have questioned the compact's financial largesse. Supporters, meanwhile, say the activities of the two agencies are complementary.

The cooperative structure, which provides benefits on a regional basis, could act as a model for other parts of the country seeking to meet the EPA goals, Argo said.

It's unclear how the new rule will affect power plants in the state, although the owner of a coal-fired power plant in Holyoke announced Monday that it would close.

A spokesman for NRG Energy declined to comment specifically on the future of the oil-fired plant it owns on the Cape Cod Canal, which has struggled to compete with other generators in recent years.

In an email, NRG spokesman David Gaier wrote that the company supports the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions but worries that the EPA's rule would adversely affect electricity reliability and consumers in certain states.

"We are carefully reviewing the proposed rule and we look forward to working with the EPA and state regulators to create reasonable, practicable guidelines for achieving substantial emission reductions," he wrote.

Cash said he expects the rule to survive legal attacks by its critics. The EPA's ability to regulate carbon emissions was settled as a matter of law in a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of Massachusetts and other states that had sued to force the agency to take action.

"Massachusetts v. EPA obviously is the cornerstone legal decision in this area," said Matthew Pawa, an environmental lawyer with a family home in Brewster who has litigated several major clean-air cases.

The court's decision found not only that the EPA can regulate carbon emissions but that it has the obligation to do so, Pawa said, adding that the agency's ability to regulate carbon was reaffirmed by the high court in a case he worked on that was decided in 2011.

And while Pawa praised the Obama administration's decision to move forward in regulating emissions from existing plants, he said it should have been done sooner.

"The industry is going to fight this tooth and nail," he said, adding that if the new rules had been proposed earlier the country would have been much further along in carrying out the changes and in dealing with the legal fallout.